The Club of Three’s 2017 Working Session – “Europe in 2030: Successfully Managing Digitalisation” – involved some 50 senior figures from industry, technology companies, politics and the media in France, Germany and the UK.
The meeting took place in Berlin at the end of November and explored the opportunities that digitalisation could bring about as well as its disrupting effects on society and large parts of the traditional economy, and how Europe could rise to the challenge.
It was divided into three sessions. The first session, during which Jim Hagemann Snabe (Chairman-designate, Siemens AG) gave a keynote address, was held at Deutsche Bank Unter den Linden on the Friday afternoon and focused on the socio-economic aspects of digitalisation. This was followed by an evening reception at the British Embassy hosted by Ambassador Sir Sebastian Wood. The two Saturday morning sessions were held at the Axel Springer Plug and Play Accelerator, focusing respectively on the information revolution and the opportunities and risks associated with highly connected cities.
Participants included Nick Coleman (Global Head of Cyber Security Intelligence, IBM); Eckhard Cordes (Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Bilfinger SE); Lord Evans of Weardale (Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Financial Systems Vulnerability Committee, HSBC, and former Director General, MI5); Ben Hammersley (Consultant Futurist and technology journalist); Edie Lush (Executive Editor, Hub Culture); Kay Oberbeck (Director of Communications and Public Affairs, Google Germany/AT/CH/CEE); Bertram Schulte (Chief Digital Officer, SAP); Michel Yahiel (French Commissioner for Policy Planning); and Ed Vaizey (Conservative MP and former Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries).
